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Hi all, Bought a second hand pair of Steiner SkyHawk Pro 10x42 Binos and they were advertised as mint,they were and the only problem I have noticed is the when I try to focus the diopter side (Left Barrel) I can't get it tac sharp. Almost but not quite. The diopeter winds through neg to positive and then stops about 1/4inch past the positive mark. I adjust the diopter side first with the right lens blocked and then swap to blocking the left barrel and focus right. As all the articles say to do it. When i look through diopter side it is just off sharp. I then focus the diopter side with the centre focus wheel just a mil or two to get it sharp. Open right and left eyes and focus with centre focus to bring both eyes into sharp focus. These binos have a very fine focus. The question is, am I concerned about nothing or is there a problem with the diopter side. A mate of mine doesn't wear glasses like me and has to adjust my Steiners exactly the same as I do to get sharp focus.(same diopter setting) I am presuming it's not my eyes and must be the glasses.should I send em back or keep them. They really are nice though. regards to all Vin

Joanie may be able to explain it better, but you may be doing it backwards. The diopter is usually on the right, though. Here is the help I got when I posted your problem:

...is doing things backwards for this particular binocular. Since the diopter adjustment is on the left eyepiece (instead of the more usual right) he should adjust the center focuser to reach focus with the right side first (with the left side covered). Then adjust the diopter ring on the left eyepiece to bring the two sides to common focus.

Thanks, ET. The Skyhawk does indeed have the diopter on the left eyepiece, at least what I can see from pics, since this is a model marketed in Europe, not here in the US.

As explained, you should set the right eyepiece focus first, on this one, with the focus wheel and then use the diopter ring on the left eyepiece to make the diopter correction. Otherwise, there may not be enough correction in the diopter to catch up to the focus on the center wheel.

If that doesn't solve the problem, then, yes, there may be a problem with the binocular. As ET says, you once in awhile get a bino that needs diopter tweaking when you switch from near focus to far focus. In my experience, this is usually caused by slight misalignment of the prisms - not enough to seriously degrade the image, but enough to notice as you focus at different distance. In more serious cases, you will never get both eyepiece sharp at the same time. There is also a possibility of a defective eyepiece, too.

Regardless, I, personally, would not recommend buying any binocular that cannot be adjusted comfortably for your eyes. Unless you need an extreme diopter adjustment, this is always a sign that something is not right in the bino.